How to Avoid Hidden Car Rental Fees
In 2019, it doesn’t come as a surprise that various car hire companies or car rental brokers, bury surprisingly well hidden fees and extra charges, that could shock you when you pick up your rental car. But wait a second…Is it really happening to such a great extent? Well…If you really take a short tour in the web, you will soon find out that several naive customers have ended up paying two or three times the pre-agreed car rental price! And don’t just say this will never to happen to me, it has happened before and it will happen again, and this is really bad news! So, sit back, relax and read on for a handful of tips and tricks to avoid bad surprises!
Is the price of your rental car ridiculously low?
It’s never a bad thing to strike a great deal, is it? It is actually not, but what if you were simply charmed and allured by the unbelievably low daily prices? What if you really knew that something should be wrong, and you just decided to take the bait? Recent consumer surveys indicate that extremely low buying prices can actually increase consumers’ risk tolerance. Therefore, the truth is - you knew it in advance! You thought at least once, it is too good to be true and then you simply took the risk! However, what you were not expecting at all, is that your 7-day rental rate of 37€ for a small economy car, could skyrocket up to 150€ in the glimpse of an eye. Ouch! Well, our first suggestion is, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck! And yes, there are periods with low demand and huge discounts! Nevertheless, it can’t really be true that your daily car hire price will be as much as you would pay for a nice cup of coffee from Starbucks…
Hidden fuel prices pump up your car hire price!
If you enjoy shopping around to hire a car you have definitely come across different fuel policies! Most car hire brokers offer the so called Full-to-Full or Full-to-Empty policies. These are the most popular ones, and guess what, they are also the trickiest. And the fault does not always lie with the local car rental provider, but instead with the policy itself that allows for "mistakes". Let’s think for a second, is there any chance that you would ever drive your car in a foreign country, during your vacation, completely empty on the way back to the airport? Well, if the answer is no, be prepared to lose a few euro. Similarly, when you have agreed to return your rental car in a full tank, you never know if there will be a gas station close to the delivery spot. Therefore, there is always a chance that the nice lady in the drop-off counter will charge your credit card for the "fuel fees" and a "service surcharge". Long story short, our best suggestion is choosing the crystal-clear Fair-Fuel-Policy of Imperial Car Hire, where you will return the car at the same amount of fuel that you picked it up!